Thursday, June 25, 2009

Brahma Sutra, Shankara Bhashya 8

avidya iti manyante - So far adhyasa has been introduced. Cause is avidya. Avidya itself is not a problem- vastu agrahanam itself causes no anartha. like sushupti-kale. "mula avidyaha basic ignorance sushuptau anartha adarshanat" Anartha is nothing but adhyasa. Anartha hetu is avidya. Adhyasa word has been used. Connection is only with avidya. Then question is - why dont you straightaway deal with avidya.Brahmajnana nashyatvena avidyam krtvam avidya kim varnate? Why describe and go on talking about adhyasa when what is to be discussed is only avidya - only by destruction of ajnanam can there be brahmaikya jnanam. You have not talked about ajnanamThe answer is without adhyasa you cannot establish ajnanam. For whom is ignorance? For the questioner. Ajnana siddhi is because of problem - hence there is vishaya - hence there is release. So we address avidya vishaya, not avidya itself. Samsaritva anubhava experience of samsara is because of adhyasa alone.tad vivekena - viveka is looking into the ahankara to see if it is the atma - just like you use better light etc to look into the snake to see if it is real...you are not looking at the "rope" really speaking. Negating the adhyasta - vastu svarupa avadharanam - without any doubt ascertain the knowledge of the nature of atma = "what is atma" - Vidya is what removes the adhyasa. knowledge of the vastu as it is alone can eliminate adhyasa = adhyasa nivrtti. By negating the superimposed ahankara the adhistana svarupa avadharanam. This is the pramana (or Shastra) phalam. We are not pushing rajatam out - the rajatam just resolves in the understanding of the vastu.Are we trying to elimiate adhyasa(chitta vrtti nirodha) or are we trying to understand the vastu? The former is not possible - by knocking of one thought you only replace it with another - all vyavahara within the adhyasa is not going to elimiate adhyasa, if you retain the adhyasta ahankara. All vyavaharas including pramana prameya vyavahara have as their basis this adhyasa including the vyavahara of moksha. Therefore adhyasa nivrtti can only be by vastu svarupa avadharanam and for the latter shastra is the only pramanam. Pramata cannot understand what is my own svarupa - he handles the shastra pramana alright, but the shastra negates the pramata and this can produce the antahkarana vrtti which enables the ahankara to go away.Avidya iti manyante avidya karyatvat. By negating anatma adhistana’s svarupa becomes clear. Pramana phalam is svarupa avadharanam. Not adhyAsa nivrtti. Any pramana phalam including pratyaksham, etc is always svarupa avadharanam. Therefore vastu tantram jnAnam. All forms of knowledge are centered on the nature of the object. Analysis the words is to understand the vastu. When the pramana phala is there – ascertained knowledge is there – without doubt – vastu nischaya is there – then adhyAsa nivrtti is automatic. Thus, we are not pushing the rajatam out!! – rajatam disappears by itself.

Svarupa avadharanam kim artham?> if adhyAsa is the villain – why not deal with it and get rid of it>? Tikakara here says - Tathapi karana avidya tyaktva giving up the mula avidya why talk about the karana avidya or adhyAsa - karya avidya kim varnyate? Because adhyAsa – either by guna or dosha of the ahankara - has never done any damage, even atomically – anumaternapi - to the unaffected prthyagatma – sah na sambadhyate.That which is eliminated by jnana is only avidya. Pramana is only addressing the vastu – it is meant ot create knowledge - and knowledge is always of the vastu alone. Pramana neither addresses avidya nor adhyAsa. IN revealing the vastu the avidya goes away. Adhyasa is avidya karyatvam and hence alone vidya nivartyatvam. Vidya is always of the vastu.Mula avidyaha – Causal ignorance – sushuptau anartha adarshanat – obtaining in the deep sleep. Tat avidyA in deep sleep does not cause any problems any anarthas. Karyatmana tasyaha anarthatva jnapanartham tat varnanam iti bhavah. Avidya is capacble of giving you anartha dukha in the form of its karya adhyAsa. Therefore adhyastakrtadoshabhyam rajata is guna and snake is dosha – adhyasta gunasya doshabhyam by its guna or defect adhistanam is not affected na lipyate by the superimposed thing. If you superimpose a slimy snake, when the snake goes away you don’t see the sliminess

This adhyasasya lakshana was pointed out. adhyaseva sarva anartha but adhyastena vastu na lipyate. EVerything - all vyavahara - is due to adhyasa. When the Shastra tells me do this - who is addressed? the adhyasta ahankara? then you tell me it is a pramana. Suppose a drunkard is carried away by the spirit - a pramata who is drunk - and asks me "Swami, what is atma?" - should I wait for him to cool down or start a serious conversation with him about satyam jnanam, anantam? So in the same way is the Shastra addressing a deluded guy? There is something seriously wrong with me, the teacher, if i start teaching him. AS says this whole thing is under adhyasta.

tam etam - saakshi prtyaksha siddam - this ahankara is known to you - chaitanyam with respect to the antahkaranam is called (antahkarana) upahita chaitanyam or sakshi. pramata is the one identified with the ahankara - (antahkarana) vrttivishista chaintanyam. The pramata the knower is the one identified with the ahankara - vrtti vishishta chaitanyam - with reference to the vrtti he is a karta..svarupa is chaitanyam with reference to the ahankaram it is sakshi. kshetrajnaha is sakshichaitanyam - niyamena janatio without effort without change janati without jna dhatvarta i.e. without the kriya janati is called sakshi.

tametam - for that etam sakshi pratyaksham puraskrtya - hetum krtva - by depending on that - are enaged in vyavahara.pravrtah...what kind? pramana prameya - all pramana and prameya vyavaara - the pramata employs the eyes, the ears, etc... pramata here is svatantra and can employ different pramanas...eyes,ears,mind, anumana, arthapatti, etc....and these vyavahara can be laukika related to the world or vaidikaha or related to vedic karmas like agnihotra etc...all sarve vyavahara including moksha shastra vyavahara - meaning ? - guru upasadanam...study of vedanta. vidhi nisheda parani...all the vyavaharas incl shastra are keeping the adhyasa in view puraskrtya..vidhi pratishedha parani vidhi is do's nishedha dont's - shastrani - moksha shastra the tikakara says is vidhi nishedha shunya prthyagbrahma parani - whose object is not vidhi or nishedha but prthyagatma brahma. No question of should or should not....as long as one "wants" to be Brahman - adhyasa!... moksha shastra talks about the vastu as it is- therefore neti neti - it is not for doing it is for understanding...From both standpoints - Veda talks from the standpoint of ahankara alone - both karma shastra and moksha shastra are meant for "me" the baddha - the bound - the adhyasta purusha!It is very disconcerting - why? because you are telling the moksha shastra - all pramana prameya vyavahara - is adhyasa?! - shastra has its hetu in avidya..it seems unacceptable. All pramanas are bhramas? All means of knowledge - valid means of knowledge - pertain to a individual who himself is defective?? We will see how Shankara beautifully clarifies this issue in the next section.